The bodyguard who accompanied the late former President Roh Moo-hyun on his hike now admits that he was not with Roh at the time of his fall. The bodyguard claims that he was escorting another hiker down the hill and returned to discover Roh missing. He has recanted his earlier statement about having seen Roh jump. Investigators are trying to sort out the truth among conflicting statements given by the bodyguard.
I have a feeling this story is going to get more complicated.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 69 comments… read them below or add one }
“that he was with not Roh at the time of his fall”
Sonagi should it read ” that he was not with Roh at the time of his fall” instead?
Yes, thank you for catching that error, which ironically resulted from a correction of another typo.
The bodyguard is cunning! So cunning!
In the CIA’s manual for guerrillas and would-be insurrectionists, the number one method for political assassination is to gain access to the target as an aide or bodyguard and push him or her from a considerable height.
Just sayin’.
@Granfalloon:
I thought you might be joking, but you’re not. Below is the actual text from the declassified CIA Assassination Manual:
“The most efficient accident, in simple assassination, is a fall of 75 feet or more onto a hard surface. Elevator shafts, stair wells, unscreened windows and bridges will serve. Bridge falls into water are not reliable. In simple cases a private meeting with the subject may be arranged at a properly-cased location. The act may be executed by sudden, vigorous [excised] of the ankles, tipping the subject over the edge. If the assassin immediately sets up an outcry, playing the “horrified witness”, no alibi or surreptitious withdrawal is necessary.”
The obvious ‘out’ in this is that the bodyguard was just trying to cover his ass, since he could be blamed for not watching Roh at all times. Does anybody know: are these gov’t employees, like the Secret Service, or private bodyguards? Do all ex-presidents have them of necessity or are they an option?
I’m in the US, but this story has been blowing up all over the Korean newsgroups for days – there are so many inconsistencies in the story. I have been checking out the ex-pat sites and there has been precious little on these questions. Despite the nuclear test, cnn asia reports that this is still the biggest story being followed by Koreans. I was wondering when an ex-pat site was going to begin digging into it. It is hard to know what is true and merely speculation, however I’ve heard that the bodyguard was assigned days before the “suicide”, that the suicide note that was originally released to the press was differently worded, that it was not saved on the computer so the exact time that it was written could not be established, that the trip to the hospital was filled with questions and it goes on and on from there. I was wondering, to tell you the truth, whether the ex-pats weren’t covering this story (because the swine flu coverage has been wall to wall) because they were so preoccupied with the quarantine (kind of a minor story in the scheme or things) or they were afraid to ask questions about Roh for fear or government reprisals.
As far as I’ve read from various reports, usually an ex-president has bodyguards with them all the time, probably private ones or those who took care of him while he was in office, but those who visited Roh during his last days report that the bodyguards had been switched to those directly under command of the Blue House.
ZOMG CONSPIRACY
Though. to be honest, the whole affair is quite suspicious. That idiotic bodyguard, for starters. A man falls ninety feet and the bodyguard runs to down the mountain carrying him on his back? Any decently trained bodyguard would know that the best thing to do is to call 119 and wait for a stretcher or something to arrive than move a body that very probably has a lot of broken bones and internal bleeding.
Granfalloon,
Yes, but it’s just as likely that it was an accident or suicide.
I’m curious to know the motives behind the lie and if he lied/is lying of his own volition. Was he going along with the story because he was pressured into doing so (possibly to protect the identity of the other hiker) or because he was trying to cover his ass for having left Roh alone?
I haven’t had a chance to check with my spies in Seoul, but my understanding is that former presidents in Korea are protected under a 1963 law that provides secret service protection to both former presidents and their immediate families under the direction of the Presidential Security Service. I am assuming President Roh’s bodyguard was a member of this PSS detail.
DLB
korean politics = fat kid rolling down the hill
john_galt718 — Nobody cares about gov’t reprisals. Conspiracy theories are a dime a dozen, and frankly, I don’t care. Until charges are leveled, the ex-president jumped and everything else is just netizen rumor mongering. And uninteresting rumors at that.
And besides, everyone knows it was LMB, the GNP, the prosecutors, the Chosun Ilbo 등등 that killed Roh. Or so I’m told.
BTW, the swine flu was actually big news. I don’t believe that made CNN Asia, though.
Hey, I’m still wondering about Harold Holt and now you bring up this?
By the way, Harold Edward Holt (1908 – 1967) was an Australian politician who became the 17th Prime Minister of Australia in 1966. His term as Prime Minister dramatically ended in December of the following year when he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.
If Roh’s bodyguard’s story is as set forth above, I have no doubt there was funny business.
In getting to the bottom of it all, I start with the guys who shelled out the 6 million bribe.
Apparently his bodyguard, rather than calling an ambulance on the spot, picked Roh up an carried him to a car and drove him to a small local hospital.
There was also a story that Roh was supposed to have two bodyguards with him and that his wife had asked Roh just before he went on his hike if he wanted her to come along and he had said yes, but when she returned, he had already gone.
May well have been the case the he simply committed suicide, but this is a man of letters about to kill himself and he leaves his note to his family on a computer screen – no signature, didn’t even bother to hit save? Why hasn’t the news media been able to directly interview this bodyguard?
Also, cmm, I don’t know what your comment is supposed to mean – care to elucidate? Sounds fairly cynical (and unfunny, given the circumstances), but maybe I’m missing something…
If it was the guys who shelled out the money behind this, how did the bodyguards get switched up days before?
“usually an ex-president has bodyguards with them all the time, probably private ones or those who took care of him while he was in office, but those who visited Roh during his last days report that the bodyguards had been switched to those directly under command of the Blue House…A man falls ninety feet and the bodyguard runs to down the mountain carrying him on his back? ”
The 청와대 Presidential Guard is not some shadowy government agency as you seem to suggest, they are cops. Presidents change, but the cops at the Blue House stay the same. If he was indeed a former member of the presidential guard, he probably already knew Roh.
He escorted another hiker down the hill. There’s no mention of whether he carried Roh down the hill.
everybody…..the bodyguard is a NK spy.
KJI sent the signal for him to assassinate.
and as soon as it was news all over SK, he pushed the nuclear test button.
duh!!!!
@john_galt:
Lest the death of Roh evolve into a JFK-grassy-knoll truther crusade, I would prefer to post only information published from credible mainstream sources. Recall that after the 2002 armored vehicle accident, Korean internet forums were buzzing with accusations that the two men had deliberately run over the girls repeatedly and laughed about it later. Some netizens claimed to be katusas who overheard the men talking. Likewise, Korean netizens spread around accusations that Choi Jin-shil had pressured Ahn Jae-hwan to pay back loans from loan sharks.
Sharing idle gossip is fun and usually harmless. Making unfounded criminal accusations is not only irresponsible but potentially unlawful.
That the bodyguard has been questioned several times is a positive sign that the police are continuing to investigate.
….that the trip to the hospital was filled with questions and it goes on and on from there.
Please go on, what else?
Too late. If “john_galt718″ is posting from Korea, he’s already broken the law. Not that anyone from the Prosecutor’s Office or the PSS monitors this website or anything.
Or do they?
DLB
I’m not posting from Korea – how would anything I have questioned (not stated as fact mind you) have broken the law? I’m not challenging, I’m just asking. There is a people’s funeral planned for Friday as I understand it, I imagine the conspiracy theories will only grow over the course of the week and beyond, so why not address some of these questions outright now?
Sonagi,
“Korean netizens spread around accusations that Choi Jin-shil had pressured Ahn Jae-hwan to pay back loans from loan sharks.” This is true. Explains perfectly why she had to commit suicide. She was a front for a Japanese Yakuza loan shark.
About Rho’s bodyguard:
I wrote on the day of news that Korean Commies kill. One body guard only for the former president and he was not with the president he was to protect.
Is he a body guard at all? What is his training? A comedian?
He got threatened or got paid to look the other way.
And, who wrote the suicide note? Very convenient to use computer, huh. No writing experts to fool.
Goes on and on as in, why did it take 3 hours before he was declared dead officially? Why was the media alerted before the family? Roh had committed to organ donation, yet in his suicide note he specifically requested cremation; further, why wasn’t an official autopsy record released? Why are they rushing the cremation?
Because that’s giving said theories more attention than they deserve. And besides, it’s pointless, and not particularly fun. Same as with all the rumors and theories flying around in 2002 and last year during the beef protests. It’s the product of a warped relationship between the people, traditional media and the Internet.
Well, if you use one of those programs allowing remote access, it’s quite easy to use the internet to open up a program on another computer and write whatever you want.
“Because that’s giving said theories more attention than they deserve. And besides, it’s pointless…” forget about fun…why is it more attention than they deserve? Why is it pointless? Again, I’m just asking. If the same thing had happened to a former head of state in the US, there would be an outcry for an actual investigation. It sounds like there is an outcry (at least on the internet) but I don’t see any investigation.
Rho could be alive!
Nobody saw him die. Presidents are known to have doubles.
Rho did not want to go to jail so he killed his double. He faked his death.
He could be in North Korea, drinking Whiskey with KJI.
If this “Rho faked his death” breaks in internet, please remember that I am the first person to think of it.
Right here, in Marmot’s Hole.
I guess the police questioned the bodyguard several times and released details about discrepancies to the media because it was a slow news day.
There should be an investigation – as independent as possible – into the whole matter, especially the computer.
Can we start panicking now? I’ve been waiting patiently.
Sonagi:
Not clear on what the credible mainstream news sources would be – can you provide examples?
Also “Making unfounded criminal accusations is not only irresponsible but potentially unlawful” – ok, but no one here is making unfounded criminal accusations. Is it unlawful to ask questions about what happened on the day in question, because it all seems fuzzy as the story keeps changing; that is why an independent investigation would help put all of these rumors to rest. If it was a friend or relative of yours, wouldn’t you want to ask a few questions?
Per Robert’s comment
That is true and also it is human nature to spread rumours it seems.
I would point out that more investigation is probably needed because sometimes, stranger things can be true.
Established newspapers and TV broadcasters are two examples, along with blogs or websites maintained by current or retired professionals in the media, government, and academia. Agora petitions started by high school girls would not be an example.
It is not unlawful to ask questions. I have mentioned peculiarities in related threads. However, I am not going to ask questions about unverified claims, like Roh’s desire to donate his organs or that he asked his wife to go with him.
Jesus Humberto Cristo, the real world isn’t as cut and dried as a fricken’ CSI episode, OK? Just because there are a few unanswered questions or stupidities doesn’t mean the simplest explanation isn’t still the answer.
Hell, I’ve seen Koreans remove an unconscious taxi driver from a wreck when clearly they should have waited for paramedics to remove the guy in case he had a serious neck injury. It’s called “bbali bbali” culture, and although I haven’t read it anywhere but here, if the guard took him down the hill and drove him to the hospital it would be stupid, but ENTIRELY CONSISTENT with such behavior.
Yeah, as the blogger says, “pointless”, but then we have this “plot thickens” post from one of his guest posters…so what the fuck?
hardyandtiny: Yeah – precisely.
if roh has pre-determined his fate he probably took advantage of the opportunity…
old person needed help down the cliff and such he told his body guard to assist so that would give him the opportunity to jump
this is not a big development
“Goes on and on as in, why did it take 3 hours before he was declared dead officially? Why was the media alerted before the family? Roh had committed to organ donation, yet in his suicide note he specifically requested cremation; further, why wasn’t an official autopsy record released? Why are they rushing the cremation?”
Okay, so how can we believe? What are the sources? This is meaningless, right?
I can make shit up too.
ok – wrong place to ask questions…back to the bikini photos…thanks.
@john_galt and hardyandtiny:
This post relays information from a Korean media story. It does not suggest or repeat any “pointless” rumors or theories.
hardyandtiny: dude, these are “rumors” (everything is a rumor until it has been investigated by a “credible” news agency or government agency) that have been floating around the web for a few days now. The fact that they are unfounded, but keep coming up, are all the more reason that they should investigated – wouldn’t you agree?
OK, John Galt, here you go:
http://www.frontiertimes.co.kr.....=&hd=
I knew those rotten bastards at the Chosun Ilbo did it! Damn you, Chosun Ilbo! Damn you to Hell!
And Baduk says Roh faked his own death. And Baduk, I should remind you, was actually right about Hwang Woo-suk.
The title of the post and your note about “your feeling” conveys unsolved mystery.
“Pointless” is from the blogger’s comment, and then my comment in its relationship to your post.
I believe there are questions yet to be answered, and the police apparently think so, too. The only witness has changed his testimony, which complicates the story. There is no evidence in support of foul play, and the most compelling argument against such a major conspiracy is the probability of those involved to succeed not only in completing the deed but in not getting caught.
“these are “rumors” that have been floating around the web for a few days now. The fact that they are unfounded, but keep coming up, are all the more reason that they should investigated – wouldn’t you agree?”
Okay, you and I are not investigators assigned to the case, we have no knowledge of the evidence and our opinions of what happened are worthless.
So, you are either pulling my leg, very young or dumb.
Peace to Sonagi
In the biology/humanity research project that I work for, I cannot use Korean news media as a legitimate source of information without compromising my academic integrity. There’s a very good reason for that.
I am waiting until hard evidence can prove one account or the other. I will say that the circumstances look a bit suspicious, but what do I know?
cinemagauche, we need you here.
It is not pointless, and it is interesting (fun), and even if Robert repeats it three times instead of to, I will not consider it pointless or uninteresting.
I believe in the old adage, “where there is smoke, there is fun.”
What I classify is “not fun” and “pointless” is posting a bunch of pictures of old buildings.
Correction: three times instead of two. And where there is smoke, there is fire.
A slow news day? That was a joke folks. Don’t take everything Sonagi says at face value.
Classic slip up, gbevers, you didn’t need to correct that one.
In general I agree. But I like the old buildings, so fuck you on that point.
That’s fine, Gerry — you don’t have to post photos of old buildings on Occidentalism, etc. You can just continue with your upteenth post about Dokdo.
Robert (#55),
That’s my point. What you may view as pointless and uninteresting, others may find worthwhile and interesting, so why even mention it, twice?
We have brains.
This is a puzzle.
And here we are in a forum.
Why get concerned when we apply our brains to the puzzle and attempt to come to a conclusion?
IF some of the points being made are true, there really is cause for concern and further investigation.
Here’s my theory:
The bodyguard lied because of the guilt he felt for not having caught on that Roh was going to commit suicide. Roh may have even told him something along the lines of, “Go to the shrine and pray for me”. It’s only when he returned up the hill that he realized his mistake… Well, that or he wanted to hide that knew of Roh’s wishes to commit suicide and respected them out of loyality.
Either of the two are plausible explanations. As I pointed out in my last comment, if the bodyguard is a former member of the presidential guard, one would guess that he was picked to protect Roh because he was very loyal to him during his time at the Blue House.
Creamation? Buddhists usually do not like creamation.
Creamation can be the culmination of “fake death” plot. Nobody can dig out his body and re-exam, even if the double’s family request it.
The body is burned. Nothing left to exam.
Perfect crime.
Okay, the chosunilbo thing is actually weird. Roh was not pronounced officially dead until 9:30 am and the formal ANNOUNCEMENT by Jae-in Moon was made at 11 am, but if you look at the time the article on yahoo korea was posted it’s 9:14 am. I can’t find the article at chosun.com itself though. (http://kr.news.yahoo.com/servi.....9140751934) Could any computer-wise people explain how this might be? The article (posted at 9:14) notes how the president passed away at 9:30 AND that Moon Jae-in announced it formally at 11:00 am. Tres bizarre.
And SomeguyinKorea/ The bodyguard did indeed carry him on his back, at least to the car. Again, even to the car, not a good idea. At all. Should have waited for a stretcher rather than move him at all.
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/N.....270100.asp
@60 The news was out long before official announcements were made. I was hiking at the time (maybe I pushed him? maybe I pushed his double?) with my coworkers, who were getting constant news updates from their wives via cellphone about what was 1. suspected, 2. known, and 3. officially announced. The three things took awhile before they agreed, but it was known very early that he was dead, and suspected very early that it was suicide. The official announcement lagged. For awhile too, different news agencies had different versions of the three things at the same time, as would be expected. I think an attempt to pawn it off as an accident was made for awhile. Anyway, the time thing you speak of in 60 above shouldn’t be an issue.
“The bodyguard did indeed carry him on his back, at least to the car. Again, even to the car, not a good idea. At all. Should have waited for a stretcher rather than move him at all.”
Sure, it’s not as if there was a forest fire.
Maybe he didn’t have a radio or cell phone with him.
A Korean without a cell phone? That’s the craziest thing I’ve read on here yet.
62/ Nope, the newest reports say that after leaving Roh to go up to the temple and then returning, the bodyguard discovered that Roh had disappeared and immediately contacted his colleagues through a walkie-talkie.
“Police has requested records of communication between Lee and the presidential security team, but a perfect reconstruction of Roh’s last minutes will take some time.”
http://english.chosun.com/site.....00611.html
I mean, it’s not like I think there is an actual conspiracy, but I do think that had the bodyguard made some different decisions things might have turned out differently.
Hardyandtiny: “Okay, you and I are not investigators assigned to the case, we have no knowledge of the evidence and our opinions of what happened are worthless. So, you are either pulling my leg, very young or dumb.”
First off – i’m going to let your insult pass. Let’s just go over it again (slowly) because you don’t seem to be getting it. I didn’t suggest you and I become investigators now did I? I’ll give you a minute to check my posts and verify. I suggested, clearly and repeatedly, that, with so many unsubstantiated rumors about, it might be a good idea to establish an independent investigation to determine what actually happened.
If we followed your train of thought (if it can be called that) nothing would ever get investigated; instead, we’d all just throw our hands up in the air and declare our ignorance whenever anything suspicious occurred. Do you see how that works?
Let me know if anything I’ve written here requires further clarification.
oops. somebody’s messed up my blockquotes. Where’s my bodyguard?
@Mizar5: Your sarcasm is so…what’s the word?…sarcastic. You must practice at home.
Since Obama took over, conspiracies are scarce – like everything else, we outsource now.
@Mizar5: that’s my actual name, btw, so don’t be too envious.
You must log in to post a comment.